The following description is provided to assist the understanding of the reader. None of the information provided or references cited is admitted to be prior art.
High rate intermittent discharge of a lithium-silver vanadium oxide (Li/SVO) electrochemical cell begets voltage and electrolyte gradients within the cell structure. Subsequent to a high current pulse in this regard, electrochemical species within the cell will spontaneously react toward a thermodynamic equilibrium, i.e., when conditions permit for the net redistribution of such species. In this respect, equilibration of electrolyte gradients, e.g., a lithium ion gradient, occurs insofar as locally concentrated lithium ions are reduced with respect to an anodic substrate within the electrochemical cell. Reduction of such lithium ions, however, precipitates localized substrate polarization, which can result in one or both of lithium cluster formation and surface plating, i.e., as the concentration gradient relaxes. And, to the extent that bridging manifests between the negative and positive cell components—via lithium cluster growth—an internal cell loading mechanism is enabled, which can consequently result in the premature discharge of the cell. As such, the segregation of electrochemical cell components, and specifically the insulation of a cell's cathodic components, is necessary in many circumstances to curtail the deleterious effects of lithium cluster formation and surface plating.